


so hold me, mom

by TranquilNormality



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Bad coping mechanisms, Character Death, Death referred to as “leaving”, Dr Robotnik is in fact a momma’s boy, Gen, I have no fucking clue how to tag help, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Men Crying, Past Character Death, Sonic Headcanons, Trauma, brief mention of bullying, emotional breakdowns, hatred of mothers, how to deal with trauma by robotnik: step one ignore it, stobotnik is not explicitly mentioned but you can interpret that if you wish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22920769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TranquilNormality/pseuds/TranquilNormality
Summary: Ivo Robotnik doesn’t reveal much about himself. He’s not necessarily shrouded in mystery so much as he just doesn’t speak of his past.But as he and Agent Stone sit alone in a lab, the good doctor finds that this is as good a time as any to emote.
Relationships: Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik & Agent Stone, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik & Original Female Character(s), Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	1. in your long arms

**Author's Note:**

> Okay ik Robotnik probably didn’t know his mom very well cuz of that whole “Rub that in my orphan face” line, but I was listening to O Superman by Laurie Anderson and BOY that shit kills the man so have this :)
> 
> ALSO YH this is really short but like, I have a chapter two that might be coming out tomorrow if my power decides to not go out for a change >:/
> 
> and yknow, uhh pls tell me if you like it <:y

“I hated my mother,” Robotnik had said out of nowhere.

Agent Stone stiffened and whirled around to look at his boss. Neither one of them were talking beforehand, Stone simply standing around waiting for the doctor to finish his latte so he could take care of the trash.

The older man’s goggles were resting on his eyes as he worked with some sparking wires on some little machine– sorry, _Badnik._

“...Why’s… that, sir?” Stone decides to question. It wasn’t very often that the doctor revealed something about himself, emotion or background wise.

Robotnik leans back, thinking for a moment. “Because she left me. Didn’t have the decency to stick around until I completed junior high.”

Although it wasn’t his burden to carry, Stone felt anger grow towards that woman.

The agent hums, and Robotnik takes this as an invitation to continue. “My cousin, rest her soul, had the same problem. Problem is, my grandfather got far too attached to Maria and ran off with her when her parents died.

“Ran off with her and got himself killed for it. Granted, of old age and what I _rightfully_ assume stress, but he’s dead. Dead as dust.”

Stone sees that the doctor stops working and is now clutching at his jacket. “Sir, if you’d like, we can just drop th–“

With a sudden wave of the hand, the agent is cut off. “I don’t _like_ being interrupted!” Ivo declares, standing up swiftly and pacing the room.

Then, with a heavy sigh and hands clasped behind his back, Robotnik continues, “My grandfather was said to be as much of a genius as I was. Not too smart of a man, I suppose, because whereas he died when Maria left, I only _prospered_ when my mother did the same.

“You see, agent, it’s funny how people crumble when their mothers are threatened in any way, shape, or form. It’s just human nature to be attached to the being that brought your _miserable_ existence. Would you know anything about that, considering _your_ upbringing?”

There was a brief moment of silence in the room as Stone barely registers that he’s been acknowledged. He, himself, had been raised by two men and had little motherly figures in his life, but he was a perfectly functioning member of society. Give or take a breakdown now and again.

“I… suppose, yes, sir.”

“And that would be reasonable because he gave you tools to be your own man. Or some other sappy metaphor like that. But the _second_ you admit you hated your mother, what are you deemed?

“Answer me, Agent Stone.”

The poor man straightens his posture, even though the doctor was still facing away from him. “I-I assume a monster, sir?”

Robotnik then twirls around to point, a smile on his face. _“Bingo!”_

Stone then decides to tread deeper waters. “...I don’t seem to understand why you hate her, sir. You’ve spoken of human nature, but, still…”

A dramatic sigh answers him. “Suppose I _have_ been dancing about the reason.

“I hate her because she died.”

Stone blinks.

“She died. Mother just _stared_ at me and said that she was proud of me because I showed her my useless little _trinket_ that zoomed around and flashed a little red light.”

He slams his fist on the table, the machinery and tools shaking with the impact. “She just _stared!_ And then she said she would rest for just a moment to overlook my homework as she did every other day.

“But she didn’t _wake up._ She wasn’t selfish. She didn’t hate me. But she _left,_ Stone. Tell me why the _hell_ she _left me?!”_

Robotnik swiftly shoves everything off his desk. In his rage, he barely hears the clutter against the floor, nor does he really hear his heavy breathing, his body trying to calm his suddenly racing heart.

Agent Stone slowly walks forward as Robotnik sits down in his chair. Trying to console his boss, he rests a hand on the other’s shoulder.

Robotnik then turns to quickly envelope his assistant in a tight and fierce hug, burying his face in the other’s stomach as he shakes.

  
“Why did she _leave,_ Stone…”


	2. in your automatic arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day you realize you hate your mother shouldn’t also be the day you watched her die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s quite a bit of headcanons regarding Eggman’s upbringing, so be warned ;p

Ivo was less than thrilled about the science fair. He won every year he participated, and when he didn’t put his name in, students would crawl to him and beg him to make something magnificent so that _they_ could win.

They usually paid him, so, sure, it was nice, but… it was all so boring.

So, here he stood in the garage, tinkering away at a small, orb-like robot whose purpose was only to float and shine a light at people. Simple, but it got the job done.

His mother would be happy with him. She always was, even when Ivo rambled about how he was single-handedly bringing this world further and further to ideas and machinery thought _impossible._

Easy to please, Ivo knows this for fact. Mother knew little. She can’t multiply past the number twelve, she couldn’t tell you how plants get energy, and she barely knew what number Earth was in the solar system.

But Ivo loved her. And Mother, in turn, loved him.

“Dearest, why are you home so early?”

Barely shifting his head, Ivo answers, “Some punks decided to ruin Orbot. I’m trying to fix him.”

Anaïs sighs deeply, leaning against the door. “Oh, I _wish_ the school did something about those children! Bullying was never this much of a problem when I was your age…”

“You have your looks to shift the focus away from your less than stellar academics.”

Instead of being offended, his mother laughs softly before she starts coughing. Ivo drops his tools to quickly walk her to her recliner in the living room.

With a dramatic groan, he says, “Now _what_ did the doctor say about your little adventures?”

Anaïs looks at her son with a sheepish smile, slightly trembling as she attempts to settle herself on the furniture. “I forget, _mon colibri._ Will you tell me again?”

Ivo gently takes her hand. “I know you’re just stalling.”

“Maybe. Was that rude of me to do?”

“Somewhat, considering I still need Orbot fixed… But I’m willing to part with him for a moment or three.”

Anaïs chuckles. “Have you finished your homework?” she asks after a brief moment of silence. Ivo shrugs without a care. “Now, now, you know that I want you to at least participate in your classes.”

“Then I’ll go get it for you to look over. _Don’t!_ Get up. You need to rest right now, alright?”

“Yes, Ivo, dearest.”

Slowly, Ivo walks out of the room. His mother’s illness was… an enigma. Some days, it would be as violent as cousin’s Maria’s. Other times, it would be so quiet in their little home, not a sneeze or a cough coming from her.

The name slips Ivo’s mind. Everytime he thinks about it, he gets so frustrated that no one’s fixed it yet that his mind goes blank. Doctors were of a simpler mind, so simple that they couldn’t help his mother. _Curse_ his emotions! Ivo could have cured her illness and many more if he wasn’t so… so _childish._

“Mother, I have to-... Mother?”

  
  


Anaïs watches him leave. The frail woman could feel her heartbeat as she stares at the carpet. There was so much she wanted to see Ivo do. She wanted to see him graduate, wanted to see him prosper with a lover, or maybe even a bundle of animals if he chose not to love. She wanted to see him save the world, maybe even improve so many things that bothered about their little country.

But she couldn’t. Anaïs was an adventurer past her prime. She longed for a better life, one where Ivo and her husband, God rest his soul, would be happy in a tiny little cottage, away from the weary world. There was _so much_ Anaïs wanted. Yet… she was always so tired. So exhausted from the medical treatment and the constant running around trying to divy her will fairly and justly, and exhausted from Ivo’s ramblings!

**_No!_ ** No.

Ivo wasn’t exhausting, it was just… frustrating having to see him wither in a world that shamed those who were _truly_ meant for greatness. The teachers complained that he constantly put others down, but where were they when her precious boy was being beaten by the tetherball poles? Where were they when he was ridiculed onstage for showing a glorious symphony of nothing but noises from old computers?!

A heavy sigh escapes her. Anaïs feels a headache slowly creep forward.

Ivo wouldn’t blame her too much if she slept on the couch, right? Sure, it was bad for one’s back, but she was just so… tired. A nap would do her some good. Fresh and rejuvenated by evening, where she’d show her son an early birthday surprise!

“Just for a moment,” she murmurs to herself. “That’s fair enough.”

And so, she closed her eyes. And that constant beating of her heart slowed to a stop.

  
  


“Mom?” Ivo is shaking her. “Mother, come on, this wasn’t funny when I was eleven, it isn’t funny now.”

Her limp hand falls to the side of the recliner, her lucky bracelet slipping off her wrist. Ivo gets just a little more desperate. With wild eyes, he searches for the landline.

And after he makes the call no child should ever make, Ivo Robotnik, son of Anaïs Robotnik, realizes. He’s all alone. He’s now… an orphan.

Slowly, he walks back to his mother. Ivo sits in her lap, gently taking her arms to wrap them around himself.

“I hate you,” Ivo whispers as he hears the sirens get closer. “You weren’t supposed to _leave_ yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there was supposed to be a funeral scene but I couldn’t really bring myself to write it <:y
> 
> me? getting too attached to a character I made specifically for a two-shot? it’s more likely than you think.

**Author's Note:**

> if you’re unsure who Maria and Robotnik’s grandfather are, they are characters introduced in Sonic Adventure 2. Gerald Robotnik was a scientist trying to create the Ultimate Lifeform, (the project being called Project: Shadow), for reasons unknown. Both were residents of a space station named Space Colony ARK.
> 
> The government deemed their studies unethical and sent soldiers to storm the ship and capture anyone and everyone who was involved with Project: Shadow. Maria was gunned down by a soldier, and Gerald was captured and imprisoned, where he plotted his revenge against the people of Earth.
> 
> :y just in case you didn’t know


End file.
